EDM #26: Draw anything you like.

I drew this under a misting fan in an outdoor restaurant in Dallas where the temperature was heading to 106 degrees. Overwhelmed and distracted by this intense heat, I scratched feeble white charcoal pencil lines. Others, more hardy, jogged and cycled up and down the Katy trail in the background. I had prepared the page with gouache back in New York on Friday, anticipating a certain browness to the proceedings, but naive as to the desultory effects of the actual weather.

While I was unable to do much drawing in Dallas, I did manage to take some photos of Dealey Plaza and the Texas Bok Depository, a grim and effecting place that I have read so much about since I was a teenager. It was smaller than I had imagined and I felt a terrible sadness that I had only ever experienced at Gettysburg and Ground Zero. an ordinary street corner that my imagination and memory populate with powerful tragedy.

A misting fan in the tree overhead.A rare sighting in Dallas.Marks the spot on the road where JFK was shot.On the back of the fence overlooking the grassy knoll where conspiracy theorists share their versions of history for five dollar tips.Too hot to draw much.

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Before i even read your post, i thought “hmmmm… this is unlike Danny” and as soon as i read 106 degrees, i understood. :-) I’d also be scratching feeble pencil lines in such intense heat. Thanks for the Texas pics… xox

Danny, I love the ochre background in your bicycle sketch. Lately I am obsessed with all the variation on that pigment. So much so that I want to take a trip to Roussillon so visit the “Conservatoire” they have, as well as the town itself (I love Provence–lived in Aix) and collect an array of pigments to bring home to get me through winter…I dislike those darn misting machines in Texas, as they ruin my hair! Thanks for your inspiration….

I can’t imagine doing much of anything in 106 degree weather except staying INSIDE in A/C.
the X on the street is chilling…tragic times…yes, overwhelming sadness…mixed with a few smiles of pictures to get one through…humor helps.

Good grief! You should get a medal for visiting Texas in the summer and venturing outside! I grew up in Texas, lived there 40 years, and after 17 years in Western Washington could never go back in the summer!

A bike, in my (sketch)book is always a lovely thing to draw. They can be tricky though you have done a lovely job of it. Great to have you back at full stride Danny. I’m just back into EDM myself. Second round. May finsh this time, though is anyone ever really ‘finished’? Hope not :)